Women in the wake: expanding the legacy of Chico Mendes in Brazil’s environmental movement

Abstract

Since the death of Chico Mendes three decades ago, nearly half of the Amazon forest area has been conserved through the collective sacrifice and struggle of thousands of forest-reliant families in Brazil, twined with political will and dense scientific and technical capacity. The key position that once marginalized, rural women have played in this struggle, however, is often obscured. This paper describes the role of women, some eminent and others lesser known, in the conservation movement inspired by Chico Mendes in Brazil. Thirty years ago, women were not permitted to be union members; today, 40% of the National Council of Extractivist Populations (CNS) leadership is female, and 25% of conservation units are led by women. Brazilian women occupy positions across the full spectrum of politics from grassroots to crucial positions in government, unions and civil society organizations. As women have gained power, they have also become targets. Of the 818 assassinations recorded by the Comissão Pastoral da Terra" (CPT) between 1997 and 2017, 7% have been women. Their deaths have not been forgotten. During 2017's March of the Margaridas, in support of women's rights and in remembrance of those who have died for the cause, an estimated one hundred thousand women have participated. Since Mendes' death, the movement to conserve forests and secure land for smallholders in Brazil has not abated, but grown and evolved through crosssectoral collaborations, intergenerational exchange, strategic advocacy across vast geographic areas, and shared bonds born of struggle. The paper highlights the vital role of women in expanding and concretizing a globally significant forest conservation movement sparked by a man with a vision.

Anthropause appreciation, biophilia, and ecophilosophical contemplations amidst a global pandemic

“…The overall gender difference appears in line with findings from most of the literature examining environmental attitudes and behaviour ( Dhenge, Ghadge, Ahire, Gorantiwar, & Shinde, 2022 ; Fisher et al, 2012 ). While this may suggest the importance of female environmental advocates, change agents, and decision-makers, from a global standpoint, such responsibility placed on women's shoulders is laden with challenges, given women's social positions in society and vulnerabilities (for in-depth discussions, see Nasrin, 2012 ; Resurrección, 2013 ; Shanley, Silva, Trilby, & Silva, 2018 ; Shinbrot, Wilkins, Gretzel, & Bowser, 2019 ; Tran, 2021 ). In addition to patriarchal structures, hidden aspects such as a lack of self-confidence can impede women's access to environmental leadership roles ( Shinbrot et al, 2019 ).…”

Socio-environmental success or failure of Extractive Reserves in the Amazon?

“…The concern of the researchers of the two currents warn of the need for rationality of the productive activities of extractivism (e.g., extraction and collection of latex from Brazil nuts), agriculture (hunting, fishing and swidden) and livestock (aviculture, pig farming and cattle) (Rylands & Brandon, 2005;Costa, 2012;Homma, 2013). For traditional communities, productive activities of extractivism, agriculture and livestock should be combined, and if possible, include technologies to reduce deforestation and burning (Kainer et al, 2018;Shanley et al, 2018) These strategies are important, since agriculture and cattle ranching are two productive activities that cause environmental degradation (Smeraldi & May, 2008;Teixeira et al, 2018;Kröger, 2019, p. 13), mainly cattle ranching, which has economic prominence (Siviero et al, 2019), it has the support of rural credits (Merry & Soares-Filho, 2017;, and reduces social vulnerabilities in the largest tropical forest in the world (Granovetter, 2001;Walker et al, 2009). For example, did the economic situation cause cattle price increases by 120% the rubber fall 88% and the Brasil chestnut 32% (Wallace et al, 2018).…”

Participation of Women in Environmental Protection, Conservation and Management in Voi Sub-County, Taita Taveta County, Kenya

“…In the United States of America (USA), Winona LaDuke serves as the executive director of Honour the Earth, a local environmental advocacy organization, and she founded the White Earth Land Recovery Project in her community (Siedlecki, 2020). In Brazil, Marina Silva, a prominent advocate for the Amazon Rainforest, worked alongside Chico Mendes, who was tragically assassinated while defending the rainforest in 1988 (Shanley et al, 2018). Silva and Mendes jointly led demonstrations in the 1980s to safeguard the rainforest from government control (Raimi, 2019).…”